Page 11 of The Alpha's Mates

I glared at him as he slammed the door shut and locked it. The skin on his hands sizzled from where he’d touched the silver. The light marks on his arms from the chains were already fading. This was different, those bars were pure silver versus the dust that had been on the chain. “Did you have to fucking throw her?”

“She landed on the bed,” he muttered. He turned away, reaching behind his head and pulling his shirt off.

Turning back to Reese, I saw her eyes widen and knew before I heard the thud of Soren’s pants hitting the ground that he’d stripped completely down. Magic filled the air as he shifted. I ignored him while he swapped back to human and began to dress again. He’d needed to shift in order to keep the silver from scarring his palms where he’d grabbed it.

Reese sat on the bed, watching us with a sullen look on her face. Folding my arms over my chest, I waited for Soren to step beside me.

“You can’t keep her in there forever,” I told him.

“That’s my line,” she said, tossing me a confused look.

My willingness to help her was throwing her off center. I grinned at her, then glanced over at my friend. His eyes were narrowed on her.

“What’s your plan, Soren?”

“Keep her in there until she learns to listen,” he replied, giving her a dark look.

“I have no reason to listen to you,” she insisted, standing and moving toward us. She stopped within inches of the bars, staring us down.

“We’re your mates. All we need is time around each other and you’ll come to your senses.” Soren gave her a smug look.

I knew what he meant. Our pheromones would work on her the same way her scent was driving us mad. She’d eventually give in and realize our claim to her. Seeing as she hadn’t known any cadres with real mating bonds, I doubted she understood what he meant. It was crazy to me that none of the wolves in her pack had been mated under the Moon Goddess.

Have things really been this bad for so long?

We hadn’t seen the devastating effects as quickly because we still followed her commandments. Now more than ever I was convinced of that. As a larger pack we still had mate bonds. There were no fated mates, but we knew the bonds still existed. Had the seaside wolves lost that completely? “Is that really what you want? How you want to do this?”

That got his attention. “What other way is there?” His dark eyes locked onto me as I switched over to our mental link.

Let her go.

You’ve lost your mind.The look on his face would’ve made me laugh if this matter wasn’t as serious as it was.The farther she gets from us the more we’ll lose our minds. And it’ll be downright painful for her.

I know that.I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t the only one who’d learned about this shit from Vera. We’d also had plenty of examples of how bonded mates interacted. Mates that hadn’t completed the bond yet were vulnerable. Until the males claimed their females, they had to stick close. It was detrimentalto everyone in the cadre if they didn’t.But this needs to feel like it’s her decision.

Soren crossed his arms over his chest, mimicking my pose. Reese was watching us with a suspicious expression. She knew, from our silence, that we were speaking to each other. The look on her face told me she didn’t like being excluded from the conversation.

What do you have in mind?Soren’s sigh blasted through our link. He wasn’t happy about any of this. He didn’t want to have to force our mate into anything. Especially not after her saying that was exactly what the seaside wolves were doing to our women. Itwasn’texactly the same thing, but to her it was. We wouldn’t have to force anything. She would succumb to the Moon Goddess’s wishes, the same as us. But he didn’t want to keep her trapped in here.

Let her go. She’ll go back to her pack. And she’ll bring them back here on her own. We won’t have to fight with her because it’ll be her decision.

And if she doesn’t come back?His tone was resigned. He knew I was right. This was the only way to move forward for us. This had to be her choice.

You think she’ll be able to resist the Moon Goddess’s sway?

No… Fine. We’ll release her after dinner.

Soren-

“I’m not sending her out there hungry and in the daylight. She’ll be fucking vulnerable.” His words cracked around the room. He wasn’t pissed at me, so much as at the idea that he’d have to let Reese go after we’d just found her.

I couldn’t blame him; it wasn’t my favorite idea either. But what other choice did we have? If she felt like we took the decision from her she might not take to the claiming properly. I’d deal with the consequences of letting her leave now to avoid a lifetime of a mate who hated us.

“Why don’t you give us a few minutes,” I suggested.Besides, we can follow from a distance. Now that we’ve found her, we can track her anywhere. We can make sure she stays safe until deciding to come home.

A muscle flexed in Soren’s jaw, but he turned without another word and left. It was as much of an agreement as I was going to get from him. The door slammed behind him, making Reese jump.

Her wide eyes met mine. They reminded me of the foggy mornings that were so common here in the mountains. She was so beautiful she made my heart ache. “I’m Atlas,” I told her. There was no point in reaching through the bars to touch her. She wouldn’t welcome it even if my fingers were itching to brush over her soft looking skin.

---